Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
Loading...
MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
960178,202 (3.57)27
20th century literature (3) adventure (5) American literature (5) audiobook (4) boxed (2) c (3) crime (10) ebook (11) fantasy (3) fiction (91) Harrison (3) Harry Harrison (7) humor (47) novel (13) own (4) paperback (10) pb (4) read (13) Roman (4) satire (3) science fiction (229) series (7) sf (67) sff (14) space opera (9) Stainless Steel Rat (48) thief (3) to-read (4) unread (4) used (4)

None.

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

English (16)  Danish (1)  All languages (17)
Showing 1-5 of 16 (next | show all)
A good old-fashioned space opera about a reformed con-man with a surprisingly-strong moral fiber. Very well written, entertaining, and a cool window into the mind of a writer from the 60s. The future was so different back then. ( )
  Melhael | Apr 27, 2013 |
A good old-fashioned space opera about a reformed con-man with a surprisingly-strong moral fiber. Very well written, entertaining, and a cool window into the mind of a writer from the 60s. The future was so different back then. ( )
  Melhael | Apr 27, 2013 |
This was entertaining but not as good as 'Make Room! Make Room!' by the same author. But then again, the comparison is not fair as 'Make Room! Make Room!' is more serious than this. But reading 'SS Rat' once won't make you regret it. ( )
  Veeralpadhiar | Mar 31, 2013 |
I think the best thing I can say about this book is that it does not age well.

In the far future (which, I think would be about now, although I'm willing to forgive the book this bit), people have been selectively bred to be socially conscious and responsible. The few malcontents that are born are weeded out fairly quickly, so that there is virtually no crime. So the whole wide world/civilization is fairly bland, with few exceptions. The main character, Jim diGriz, is one of those exceptions, and thanks to his criminal "ability" is recruited into being a kind of anti-crime agent to stop crimes and apprehend other criminals.

Which is all well and good, if it weren't for the fact that diGriz is possibly one of the most irritating main characters I've had the misfortune to read. He's brash and amazing and clever and witty and oh-so-awesome. And one note (although all characters are dimensionless). And then there's the "gentle" misogyny rampant through the book. There is no world building, there are no sane motivations for any of the characters. The world is, because the author says so. The characters just do, because the author writes them to.

The upside is that this book is fast. The action is non-stop, and since the book is so short, that means it doesn't take long to get through, and there is no lag-time that makes you want to put down the book.

It's decent, I suppose. It feels like a pulp-sci-fi from the 60s. So take it for what it is. If you enjoy the campy white-knight man rescuing the world from the evil clutches of a seductress-enemy that takes no direct action, but uses her "feminine wiles" to ensnare men to her bidding, then go for it. I won't be continuing the series. ( )
  suzemo | Mar 31, 2013 |
I think the best thing I can say about this book is that it does not age well.

In the far future (which, I think would be about now, although I'm willing to forgive the book this bit), people have been selectively bred to be socially conscious and responsible. The few malcontents that are born are weeded out fairly quickly, so that there is virtually no crime. So the whole wide world/civilization is fairly bland, with few exceptions. The main character, Jim diGriz, is one of those exceptions, and thanks to his criminal "ability" is recruited into being a kind of anti-crime agent to stop crimes and apprehend other criminals.

Which is all well and good, if it weren't for the fact that diGriz is possibly one of the most irritating main characters I've had the misfortune to read. He's brash and amazing and clever and witty and oh-so-awesome. And one note (although all characters are dimensionless). And then there's the "gentle" misogyny rampant through the book. There is no world building, there are no sane motivations for any of the characters. The world is, because the author says so. The characters just do, because the author writes them to.

The upside is that this book is fast. The action is non-stop, and since the book is so short, that means it doesn't take long to get through, and there is no lag-time that makes you want to put down the book.

It's decent, I suppose. It feels like a pulp-sci-fi from the 60s. So take it for what it is. If you enjoy the campy white-knight man rescuing the world from the evil clutches of a seductress-enemy that takes no direct action, but uses her "feminine wiles" to ensnare men to her bidding, then go for it. I won't be continuing the series. ( )
  suzemo | Mar 31, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 16 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Series (with order)
Canonical title
Information from the Swedish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one.
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Publisher series
Information from the Swedish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one.

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (5)

Book description
Haiku summary

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0441779247, Paperback)

Jim DiGriz is caught during one of his crimes and recruited into the Special Corps. Boring, routine desk work during his probationary period results in his discovering that someone is building a battleship, thinly disguised as an industrial vessel. In the peaceful League no one has battleships anymore, so the builder of this one would be unstoppable. DiGriz' hunt for the guilty becomes a personal battle between himself and the beautiful but deadly Angelina, who is planning a coup on one of the feudal worlds. DiGriz' dilemma is whether he will turn Angelina over to the Special Corps, or join with her, since he has fallen in love with her.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:33:43 -0400)

Jim DiGriz is caught during one of his crimes and recruited into the Special Corps. Boring, routine desk work during his probationary period results in his discovering that someone is building a battleship, thinly disguised as an industrial vessel. In the peaceful League no one has battleships anymore, so the builder of this one would be unstoppable. DiGriz' hunt for the guilty becomes a personal battle between himself and the beautiful but deadly Angelina, who is planning a coup on one of the feudal worlds. DiGriz' dilemma is whether he will turn Angelina over to the Special Corps, or join with her, since he has fallen in love with her.… (more)

» see all 2 descriptions

Quick Links

Swap Ebooks Audio
2 avail.
15 wanted
5 pay

Popular covers

Rating

Average: (3.57)
0.5 1
1 1
1.5 2
2 16
2.5 6
3 60
3.5 13
4 64
4.5 6
5 30

Audible.com

An edition of this book was published by Audible.com.

See editions

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

Help/FAQs | About | Privacy/Terms | Blog | Contact | LibraryThing.com | APIs | WikiThing | Common Knowledge | Legacy Libraries | 81,881,830 books!